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There was the little shoulder shimmy as he exited the mound after the first inning. After the second, it was his usual hop and a skip over the line between third base and home.

And in the fifth, a yell from Marcus Stroman was loud enough to be heard in all corners of Fenway Park following a key strikeout of Red Sox all-star Mookie Betts to get out of a jam.

It was all part of the Stro Show, a regular occurrence from the Jays’ hottest starter, who was on again in Monday’s opener of a four-game series vs. Boston.

The only thing missing on this night of mostly solid work was a ‘W’ to deny him a 10th win on the season.

After Marcus Stroman’s own error in the seventh led to the erasure of the Jays’ 3-0 lead, Toronto was able to rally for a run in the top of the eighth for a 4-3 win against the AL East-leading Red Sox.

As is the case with most everything with this team, it didn’t come easy.

After cruising along through six innings with that three-run margin and looking every bit the dominant pitcher he has been of late, Stroman hurt his own cause with a costly miscue at first base.

The flamboyant starter got to the bag in time to cover a Jackie Bradley Jr. would-be ground out with just one problem — he missed the bag with his foot.

“It was my fault, that was on me,” Stroman said. “(First baseman Justin Smoak) got it caught in his glove a little bit, but I should have went right to the bag.”

The result was a Stroman error and with runners at the corners, trouble loomed. Sure enough, the Red Sox rally began with a Brock Holt sacrifice fly to score Andrew Benintendi from third.

With two out, Betts returned to the plate and rapped out an RBI single to make it a one-run game. Enter Dominic Leone in relief of Stroman to face Dustin Pedroia, who belted the first pitch he faced off the Green Monster in left field. That brought home Christian Vazquez to tie it at 3-3.

The Jays dodged disaster on that play when Betts got greedy and ran through the stop sign at third and was gunned down by a Kevin Pillar throw/Russell Martin tag to keep it tied.

And just like that the game was tied on three unearned runs thanks to an error by the pitcher.

The Jays didn’t wait long to retake the lead, however, when Steve Pearce rapped single to score Smoak. It was Pearce’s second RBI of the night, following a solo home run in the second.

“That was a good bounce back for us after a tough day (Sunday in Detroit),” Jays manager John Gibbons said. “Wins don’t come easy in this place.”

The Jays are just 2-5 vs. Boston this season but have won six of their past eight at Fenway and are 18-10 here since 2014. “I think (Monday’s win) is huge,” Stroman said. “It’s tough to get wins here in Boston. Hopefully this gets us some momentum going into the next couple.” … The Jays jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first thanks to a Kendrys Morales double off the wall bringing home Martin and Smoak… Ryan Tepera got the win after pitching a scoreless eighth to improve his record to 5-1. He was followed by closer Roberto Osuna who picked up his 23rd save of the season and 22nd in a row. That marks the fourth-longest consecutive saves streak in club history … Quirky Pearce note: He was drafted but didn’t sign with the Red Sox in 2004. They are the only AL East team he hasn’t played for … The Jays got to Boston starter Eduardo Rodriguez early. Rodriguez was making his first start since being placed on the DL (knee) on June 2 … Gibbons on the Pillar to Martin toss and tag for the crucial out in the seventh: “That was as good a relay as you can make.” … As many a Fenway opponent can attest, a lead is rarely safe around these parts, adding to the frustration of the Jays inability to cash in more runs before the near disastrous seventh. “Three-run games are nothing around here because you’re staring at that Monster,” Gibbons said.

After dropping two of three in Detroit on the weekend, the Jays were certainly in need of a stout Stroman effort on Monday. With the (eventual) win, the Jays avoided falling 10 games behind the AL East leading Sox and to within eight, with three more remaining at venerable Fenway.

Even more of a tease, they’re now 41/2 games out of an AL wildcard spot.

That Stroman didn’t start in Detroit was by design, in part to set the table for what the coaching staff hoped would be a big night to kick off the important four-pack at Fenway.

“We gave him a little bit of a breather over the break because he’s been one of our most worked starters and than he did have that little blister and we let that heal even better,” pitching coach Pete Walker said. “He’s definitely pitched in some big games for us. This team needs to get going and he’s the guy you want out there.”

WORN OUT SOX?

After a gruelling weekend in which the Bosox played 34 innings in 30 hours, did the Jays catch the AL East leaders at the perfect spot?

Gibbons was certainly hopeful after the Sox came off a gruelling weekend with their fierce rival, New York Yankees.

On Saturday, the Bronx Bombers got the best of them with a 4-1win in 16 innings. On Sunday, the two split a day-night doubleheader. Combine the two days and the Yanks and Red Sox tussled for 15 hours and 30 minutes

“I can remember years ago it was always the Yankees and Red Sox pulling away early,” Gibbons said. “But (if) you’d play them right after they’d played each other — it was always a good time to play them because they were beat to death, bullpens beat to crap.

“Maybe it’s a good time to play them now.”

AROUND THE DIAMOND

Jays pitching coach Walker is confident Francisco Liriano will be fit to get the start on Thursday after exiting Saturday’s game with neck soreness. “He played catch (Monday) and right now he’s scheduled to pitch on Thursday,” Walker said. If Liriano falters, expect Mike Bolsinger to get the call in the series finale … This series marked the first time since 1997 that the Jays and Sox have had their first Fenway meeting of the season post all star break.